. © The theological meaning οἵ this Orphic fiction is beautifully un- folded by Proclus, as follows:—‘ Orpheus says that the vivific cause of partible natures [i. 6. Proserpine], while she remained on high, weav- ing the order of celestials, was a nymph, as being undefiled; andjn con- _ sequence of this connected with Jupiter, and abiding in her appropriate _ manners; but that, proceeding from her proper habitation, she left her _ webs unfinished, was ravished; having been ravished, was married; and that being married she generated, in order that she might animate things which have an adventitious life. For the unfinished state of her webs indicates, I think, that the universe is imperfect or unfinished, as far as to perpetual animals [i. e. The universe would be imperfect if nothing _ inferior to the celestial Gods was produced]. Hence Plato says, that the one Demiurgus calls on the many’ Demiurgi to weave together the -ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS. 18] a veil, in consequence of being, as it were, the vestment of the celestial Gods.
7. Why, therefore, are the amphore said not to be filled with water, but with honey-combs? For in these’ Homer says the bees deposit their honey. But this is evident from the word τιϑαιδωσσειν, which signifies τιϑεναι τὴν foow; ἃ. 6. to deposit aliment. And honey is the nutriment of bees. Theologists, also, have made honey subservient to many and different symbols, because it consists of many powers; since it is both cathartic and preservative. Hence, through honey, bodies are pre-, served from putrefaction, and inveterate ulcers are puri- fied. Farther still, it is also sweet to the taste, and is collected by bees, who are ox-begotten, from flowers. When, therefore, those who are initiated in the Leontic sacred rites, pour honey instead of water on their hands; they are ordered [by the initiator] to have their hands pure from every thing productive of molestation, and from every thing noxious and detestable. Other initiators [into the same mysteries] employ fire, which is of a cathartic nature, as an appropriate purification. And they likewise purify the tongue from all the defilement of evil with honey. But the Persians, when they offer honey to the guardian of fruits, consider it as the symbol of a preserving and defending power. Hence some permortal and immortal natures; after a manner reminding us, that the addition of the mortal genera is the perfection of the textorial life of the universe, and also exciting our recollection of the divine Orphic fable, and affordin us interpretative causes of the unfinished webs of Proser- pine.” — See vol. ii. p. 356, of my translation of Proclus on the Timzus. The unfinished webs of Proserpine are also alluded to by Claudian, in his poem De Raptu Proserpina, in the following verse: Sensit adesse Deas, imperfectumque laborem Deserit.
I only add, that, by ancient theologists, the shuttle was considered as a signature of separating, a cup of vivific, a sceptre of ruling, and a Key of guardian power.
182 ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
sons have thought that the nectar.and ambrosia’, which the poet pours into the nostrils of the dead, ‘for the purpose of preventing putrefaction, is honey; since honey is the food of the Gods. On éhis acceunt, also, the same poet somewhere calls nectar sguégev; for such is the colour of honey, [viz. it is a deep yellow]. But whether or not honey is to be taken for nectar, we shall elsewhere ‘more accurately examine. In QOrspheus, likewise, Saturn is ensnared by Jupiter through honey. For Saturn, being filled with honey, is intoxicated, his. senses are darkened, as if from the effects of wine, and -he sleeps; just as Porus, in the Banquet of Plato, is filled ‘with nectar; for wine was not (says he) yet known. The Goddess Night, The theological meaning of nectar and ambrosia, is beautifully unfolded by Hermias, in his Scholia on the Phedrus of Plato, published by Ast, Lips. 1810, p. 145, where he informs us, “ that ambrosia is analogous to dry nutrimeut, and that, on this aocount, it signifies an astablishment in causes; but-that nectar is analogous to moist food, and that it signifies the providential attention of the Gods to secondary natures; the former being denominated, according to @ privation of the mortal and corruptible [xara ovegnsw τοῦ βροτοῦ καὶ φϑαρτου]; but the latter, according to ἃ privation of the funeral and sepulchrul [κατὰ oreguom We xiseging δίρημενον καὶ τοῦ rage], And when ‘the Gods are represented ‘as energizing -providentially, they are said to drink nectar. Thus Homer, in the beginning ofthe 4th book of.the Hliad: Os δὲ θεοι wag Ζενι safeycercs γοροωγα Χρυσεω εν δαπεδω, μετα δὲ σφισι ποτνια Ἠδη Νεχταρ ἑωγοχοει" ros δὲ χρυσεοις δεπαξσσι ~ Δειδεχατ᾽ adandouc, Tema πολιν εἰσοροωντες.
Now with each other, on the golden floor Seated near. Jove, the-Gods converse; to whom The venerable Hebe nectar hears, In golden goblets; and as these flow roand, Th’ immortals turn their careful eyes on Troy.
For then they providentially attend to the Trojans. The possession, therefore, of immutable providence by the Gods is signified by their drinking nectar; the exextion ‘of this previdence, by their bebolding Troy; and their communicating with each other in providential energies, by receiving the goblets from each other.
ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS. 183 too, in Orpheus, advises Jupiter to make use of honey as an artifice. ‘For she says to him —: When stretch’d beneath the lofty oaks you view Saturn, with honey by the bees produc’d, Sunk in ebriety *, fast bind the God.
This, therefore, takes place, and Saturn being bound, is castrated in the same manner as Heaven; the theolo- gist obscurely signifying by this, that divine natures become through pleasure bound, and drawn down into the realms of generation; and also that, when dissolved in pleasure, they emit certain seminal powers. Hence Saturn castrates Heaven, when descending to earth, through a desire of coition'. But the sweetness of honey signifies, with theologists, the same thing as the pleasure arising from copulation, by which Saturn, being ensnared, was castrated. For Saturn, and his sphere, are the first of the orbs that move contrary to the course of Ccelum, or the heavens. Certain powers, however, descend both from Heaven [or the merratic sphere] and the planets. But Saturn receives the powers of Heaven, k Ebriety, when ascribed to divine natures by ancient theologists, signifies a deific superessential energy, or an energy superior to intellect. Hence, when Saturn is said by Orpheus to have been intoxicated with honey or nectar, the meaning is, that he then energized providentially, in a deific and super-intellectual manner. | 1 Porphyry, though he excelled in philosophical, was deficient in theo- logical knowledge; of which what he now says of the castrations of Saturn and Heaven, is a remarkable instance. For ancient theologists, by things preternatural, adumbrated the transcendent nature of the Gods; by such as are irrational, a power more divine than all reason; and by things apparently base, incorporeal beauty. Hence, in the fabulous narrations to which Porphyry now alludes, the genital perts must be considered as symbols of prolific power; and the castration of these parts as signifying the progression of this power into a subject order- So that the fable means that the prolific powers of Saturn are called forth into progression by Jupiter, and those of Heaven by Saturn; Jupiter being inferior to Saturn, and Saturn to Heaven.—See the Apology for the Fables of Homer, in vol. i. of my translation of Plato.
(al 184 ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
and Jupiter the powers of Saturn. Since, therefore, honey is assumed in purgations, and as an antidote to putre- faction, and is indicative of the pleasure which draws. souls downward to generation; it is a symbol well adapted to aquatic Nymphs, on account of the unpu- trescent nature of the waters over which they preside, their purifying power, and their co-operation with genera- tion For water co-operates in the work of generation. On this account the bees are said, by the poet, to deposit their honey in bowls and amphore; the bowls being a symbol of fountains, and therefore a bowl is placed near to Mithra, instead of a fountain; but the amphoree are symbols of the vessels with which we draw water from fountains. And fountains and streams are adapted to aquatic Nymphs, and still more so to the Nymphs that are souls, which the ancients peculiarly called bees, as the efficient causes of sweetness. Hence Sophocles does. not speak unappropriately when he says of souls — In swarms while wandering, from the dead, A. humming sound is heard.
8. The priestesses of Ceres, also, as being initiated into the mysteries of the terrene Goddess, were called by the ancients bees; and Proserpine herself was denomi- nated by them honied. The moon, likewise, who presides over generation, was called by them a bee, and algo a bull. And Taurus is thé exaltation of the moon. But bees are ox-begotten.. And this appellation is also given to souls proceeding into generation. The God, likewise, who is occultly connected with generation, is a stealer of oxen. To which may be added, that honey is considered as a symbol of death, and on this account, it is usual to offer libations of honey to the terrestrial Gods; but gall 18 considered as a symbol of life; whether it is obscurely signified by this, that the life of the soul dies through pleasure, but through bitterness the soul resumes its life, - whence, also, bile is sacrificed to the Gods; or whether it is, because death liberates from molestation, but the pre- ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS: 185 sent life is laborious and bitter. All souls, however, proceeding into generation, are not simply called bees, but those who will live in it justly, and who, after having performed such things as are acceptable to the Gods, will again return [to their kindred stars]. For this insect loves to return to the place from whience it first came, and is eminently just and sober. Whence, also, the liba- tions which are made with honey are called sober. Bees, likewise, do not sit on beans, which were considered by the ancients as a symbol of generation proceeding in a right liné, and without flexure; because this leguminous vegetable is almost the only seed-bearing plant, whose stalk is perforated throughout without any intervening knots™. We must therefore admit, that honey-combs and beeg are appropriate and common symbols of the aquatic Nymphs, and of souls that are married [as it were] to [the humid and fluctuating nature of] gene- ration.
9. Caves, therefore, in the most remote periods of ‘antiquity, were consecrated to the Gods, before temples were erected to them. Hence, the Curetes in Crete dedicated a cavern ‘to Jupiter; in Arcadia, a cave was sacred to the Moon, and to Lycean Pan; and in Naxus, to Bacchus. But wherever Mithra was known, they pro- pitiated the God in a cavern. With respect, however, to this Ithacensian cave, Homer was not satisfied with saying that it had two gates, but adds, that one of ‘the gates was turned towards the north, but the other, which was more divine, to the south. He also says, that the northern gate was pervious to descent, but does not indi- cate whether this was also the case with the southern gate. For of this, he only says, “ It is inaccessible to men, but it is the path of the immortals.”
10. It remains, therefore, to investigate what is indi- ™ Hence, when Pythagoras exhorted his disciples to abstain from beans, he intended to signify, that they should beware of a continued and perpetual descent into the realms of generation.
186 ΟΝ THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
cated by this narration, whether the poet describes a cavern which was in reality consecrated -by othera, or whether it is an enigma of his own invention. Sinoe, however, a cavern is an image and symbol of the world, 2s Numenius and his familiar Cronius assert, there are two extremities in the heavens, viz. the winter tropic, than which nothing is more southern, and the summer tropic, than which nothing is more northern. But the summer tropic is in Cancer, and the winter tropic in Capricorn. And since Cancer is nearest to us, it is very properly attri- buted to the Moon, which is the nearest of all the heavenly bodies to the earth. But as the southern pole, by its great distance, is invisible to us, hence Capricorn is attri- buted to Saturn, the highest and most remote of all the planets. Again, the signs from Cancer to Capricorn, are situated in the following order: and the first of these is Leo, which is the house of the Sun; afterwards Virgo, which is the house of Mercury; Libra, the house of Venus; Scorpius, of Mars; Sagittarius, of Jupiter; and Capricornus, of Saturn. But from Capricorn in an inverse order, Aquarius is attributed to Saturn; Pisces, to Jupi- ter; Aries, to Mars; Taurus, to Venus; Gemini, to Mer- cury; and, in the last place, Cancer to the Moon.
11. Theologists therefore assert, that these two gates are Cancer and Capricorn; but Plato calls them en- frances. And of these, -theologists say, that Cancer is the gate through which souls descend; but Capricorn | that throngh which they ascend. Cancer is indeed northern, and adapted to descent; but:Capricorn is south- em, and adapted to ascent". The northern parts, like- 5 Macrobius, in the 12th chapter of his Commentary on Scipio's Dream, has derived some of the ancient arcana which it contains from what is here said by Porphyry. A part of what he has farther added, I shall translate, on account of its excellence and connexion with the above passage. ‘‘ Pythagoras thought that the empire of Pluto began downwards from the milky way, because souls falling from thence appear to have already receded from the Gods. Hence he asserts, that. the nutriment of milk is first ofered to infants, because their first motion ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS. 187 wise, pertain ‘to souls descending iato generation. And the gates of the cavern which are turned προ the north, are commences from the galaxy, when they begin to fall into terrene bodies. Qn this account, since those who are about to descend are yet in Cancer, and have not left the milky way, they rank in the order of the Gods. But when, by falling, they arrive at the Lion, in this constélla- tion they enter on the exordium of their future condition. And because, in the Lion, the rudiments of birth, and certain primary exercises of human nature, commence; but Aquarius is opposite to the Lion, and presently sets after the Zion rises; hence, when the sun is in Aquarius, funeral rites are performed to departed souls, because he is then carried in a sign which is contrary or adverse to human life. From the confine, therefore, in which the zodiac and galaxy touch each other, the soul, descending from a round figure, which is the only divine form, is pro~ duced into a cone by its defluxion. And as a line is generated from a point, and proceeds into length from an indivisible, so the soul, from its own point, which is a monad, passes into the duad, which is the first extension. And this is the essence which Plato, in the Timeus, calls impartible, and at the same time partible, when he speaks of the nature of the mundane soul. For as the soul of the world, so likewise that of man, will be found to be in one respect without division, if the simplicity of a divine nature is considered; and in another respect partible, if we regard the diffusion of the former through the world, and of the latter through the members of the body.
‘¢ As soon, therefore, as the soul gravitates towards body in this first production of herself, she begins to experience a material tumult, that is, matter flowing into her essence. And this is what Plato remarks in the Phedo, that the soul is drawn into body staggering with recent intoxica- tion; signifying by this, the new drink of matter’s impetuous flood, through which the soul, becoming defiled and heavy, is drawn into a terrene situation. But the starry cup placed between Cancer and the Lion, is a symbol of this mystic truth, signifying that descending souls first expe- rience intoxication in that part of the heavens through the influx of matter. Hence oblivion, the companion of.intoxication, there begins silently to creep.into the recesses of the soul. For if souls retained in their descent to bodies the memory of divine concerns, of which they ‘were conscious in the heavens, there would be no dissension among meu about divinity. But all, indeed, in descending, drink af oblivion; though some more,.and others less. On this account, though truth 3e not apparent to all men on the earth, yet all exercise their opinions about it; because a defect of memory is the origin of opinien. But these discover most who have drank least of oblivion, because they easily remember what they had known before in the heavens.
188 ΟΝ FHE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
rightly said to be pervious to the descent of men; but the southern gates are not the avenues of the Gods, but “ The soul, therefore, falling with this first weight from the zodiac and milky way into each of the subject spheres, is not only clothed with the accession of a luminous body, but produces the particular motions which it is to exercise in the respective orbs. Thus in Saturn, it energizes according to a ratiocinative and intellective power; in the sphere of Jove, according to a practic power; in the orb of the Sun, according to a sensitive and imaginative nature; but according to the motion | of desire in the planet Venus; of pronouncing and interpreting what it perceives in the orb of Mercury; and according to a plantal or vegetable nature, and a power of acting on body, when it enters into the lunar globe. And this sphere, as it is the last among the divine orders, so it is the first in our terrene situation. For this body, as it is the dregs of divine natures, so it is the first animal substance. And this is the difference between terrene and supernal bodies (under the' latter of which I comprehend the heavens, the stars, and the more elevated elements,) that the latter are called upwards to be the seat of the soul, and merit immortality from the very nature of the region, and an imita- tion of sublimity; but the soul is drawn down to these terrene bodies, and is on this account said to die when it is enclosed in this fallen region, and the seat of mortality. Nor ought it to cause any disturbance that we have so often mentioned the death of the soul, which we have pronounced to be immortal. For the soul is not extinguished by its own proper death, but is only overwhelmed for a time. Nor does it lose the benefit of perpetuity by its temporal demersion. Since, when it deserves — to be purified from the contagion of vice, through its entire refinement from body, it will bé restored to the light of perennial life, ahd will return to its pristine integrity and perfection.”
‘‘ The powers, however, of the planets, which are the causes of the energies of the soul in the several planetary spheres, are more accurately described by Proclus, in p. 260 of his admirable Com- mentary on the Timeus, as follows: ae δὲ Covas καὶ ers τῶν αγίέθων Brayrnrey TEAnm μεν αἰτιά τοις ὥγητοῖς τὴς φυσεῶς, τὸ avrowloy ἄγαλμα oa τῆς πηγαίας φυσεως" Hasog δὲ δημιουργος τῶν aiclnctav Ἰάσων, hors καὶ “τοῦ opay καὶ τοῦ ὁρασϑαι asriog® Ἑρμης δὲ τῶν τὴς φαγτάσιας χιγησέων" αὐτῆς γα ΨῊς φαντασήικης ουσιας, ὡς μίας ovens αἰσϑησεως και φαντασίας; ἥλιος ὑποστώτης" Adpelbrn δὲ τῶν ἐπ ιθυμητικων ορδξβων' Αρῆς δὲ τῶν ϑυμοείδων κινήσεων τῶν κατὰ puoi ἐκασῆοες" ποιγη “δὲ τῶν μὲν ζωτικὼν πάσων δυνάμεων Ζευς, τῶν δὲ γγωσΊικων Keovec, διηρται γαρ “σαντα τὰ εἰδὴ Te ἀλογα εἰς ταυτας, ὃ, 6. “ If you are willing, also, you.may say, that of the beneficent planets, the Moon is the cause to mortals of nature, being herself the visible statue of fontal nature. But the Sur is the: Demiurgus ‘of.every thing sensible, in consequence of. being the cause of sight and visibility. Mercury is.the cause of the-motions of:the - ‘ ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS. 189 of souls ascending to the Gods.. On this account, the poet does not say that they.are the avenues of the Gods, but of immortals; this appellation being 8180 comman te our souls, which are per se, or essentially, immortal. It 15. said, that Parmenides mentions these two gates in his. treatise On the. Nature of Things; as likewise, that they are not unknown to the Romans and Egyptians. For the Romans celebrate their Saturnalia when the.Sun is in Capricorn; and during this festivity, slaves wear the shoes of those that are free, and all things are.distributed among them in’ common; the legislator obscurely signify- ing by this ceremony, that through this gate of the heavens, those who are now born slaves will be liberated through the Saturnian festival, and the house attributed to Saturn, i. e. Capricorn, when they live again, and return to the fountain of life. Since, however, the path from Capricorn is adapted to ascent®, hence the Romans denominate that month in which the Sun, turning from Capricorn ‘to the east, directs his course to the north, Januarius, or January, from janua,a gate. But with the Egyptians,’the beginning of the year is not Aquarius, as with the Romans, but Cancer. For the star Sothis, which the Greeks call the Dog, is near to Cancer. And the rising of Sothis is the new moon with them,. this being the principle of generation to the world. On this account, the gates of the Homeric cavern are not dedi- cated to the east and west, nor to the equinoctial signs, Aries and Libra, but to the north and south, and to those celestial signs which, towards the south, are most southerly, and, towards the north, are most northerly; phantasy; for of the imaginative essence itself, so far as sense and-phan- tasy are one, the Sun is the producing cause. But Venus is the cause of epithymetic appetites [or of the appetites pertaining to desire]; and Mars, of the irascible metions which are conformable to nature. Of all vital powers, however, Jupiter is the common cause; but of all gnostic powers, Saturn. For all the irrational forms are divided into these.”
© For’ καταξατικη, in this place, it appears to me to be obviously necessary to read avaCazixe, For Porphyry. has above informed us, that Capricorn is the gate through which souls ascend.
100 ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
because this cave was sacred to souls and aquatic Nymphs. But these places are adapted to souls descend-- ing into generatian, and sfterwards separating themselves from it. Hence, a place near to the equinoctial circle was assigned to Mithra as an. appropriate seat. And on this account he bears the sword of Aries, whieh is a martial sign. He is likewise carried in the Bull, whieh is the sign of Venus. For Mithra, as well as the Bull, is the demiurgus and lord of generation’. But.he is placed’ near the equinoetial circle, having the northers parts: on his right hand, and the-southera on_his. left.. They like- wise arranged towards the south the southern hemi+ sphere, because it is hot; but the northern hemisphere: towards the north, through the coldness of the: nortl 12. The ancients, likewise, very reasonably connected winds with. souls. proceeding into generation, and again separating themselves from it, because, as some think, souls attract a spirit, and: have a pneumatic.essence: But the north wind is adapted: to souls: falling into genera- tion’; and, on this account, the. northern blasts refresh those whe are dying, and when they caa scarcely draw . their breath. On the contrary, the southern gales dis- solve life. For the north wind, indeed, from its superior coldness, congeals [as it were, the animal life],, and detains it in the frigidity of terrene generation. But the south wind being hot, dissolves this life, and sends it upward to the heat of a divine nature. Since, however, eur terrene habitation is more northern, it is proper that souls which are born in it should be familiar with the north. wind; but those that exchange this life for a better, with the south wind. This also is the cause why the north wind-is at its: commencement great; but the south P Hence Phanes, or Protogonus, who is the paradigm of the universe, and who was absorbed by Jupiter, the Demiurgus, is represented: by @rpheus as having the head of a bull’ among other lieads with which he is adorned. And in the. Orphic hymn to him, he is called’ διεὶς roarer.:. “ ἦ ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS. 19] © wind, at its termination. For the former is situated directly over the inhabitants of the northern part of the globe; hut the latter is at a great distance from them; and. the blast from places very remote, is more tardy than- from such as are near. But when it is coacervated, then it blows abundantly, and with vigour. Since, however, souls proceed into. generation through the northern gate, hence this wind. is said to be amatory. For, as the poet says, Boreas, enamour’d of the sprightly train, €onceal’d his godhead in a flowing mane.
With voice dissembled, to his loves he περ ἃ, And coursed the dappled. beauties o’er the mead: Hence sprung twelve others. of unrivall’d kind, Swift as their mother mares, and father wind 4.
It is also said, that Boreas ravished Orithya'’, from * This fable is mentioned by Plato in the Phzdrus, and is beautifully unfolded as follows, by Hermias, in his Scholia on that Dialogue: “ A twofold solution may be given of this fable; one from history, more ethical; but the other, transferring us [from parts] to wholes. And the former of these is as follows: Orithya was the daughter of Erectheus, and the priestess of Boreas; for each of the winds has a presiding deity, which the telestic art, or the. art pertaining to sacred mysteries, reli- giously cultivates. To this Orithya, then, the God was so very propi- tious, that he sent the north wind for the safety of the country; and’be- aides this, he is said to have assisted the Athenians in their naval battles. Orithya, therefore, becoming enthusiastic, being possessed by her proper God Boreas, and no longer energizing as a human being (for animals cease to energize according to their own peculiarities, when possessed by superior causes), died under the inspiring influence, and thus was said to have been ravished by Boreas. And this is the -more ethical explana- tion of the fable. ' ‘¢ But the second, which transfers the narration to wholes, and does not entirely subvert the former, is the following: for divine fables often employ transactions and histories, in subserviency to the discipline of wholes. It is said then, that Erectheus is the God that rules over the three elements, air, water, and earth. Sometimes, however, he is consi- dered as alone the ruler of the earth, and sometimes as the presiding deity of Attica alone. Of this deity Orithya is the daughter; and she is the prolific power of the Earth, which is indeed coextended with the 192 ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
whom he begot Zetis and Calais. But as the south is attributed to the Gods, hence, when the Sun is at his meridian, the curtains in temples are drawn hefore the statues of the Gods; in consequence of observing the Homeric precept, “ that it is not lawful for men to enter temples when the Sun is inclined to the south;” for this is the path of the immortals, Hence, when the God is at his meridian altitude, the ancients placed a symbol of mid-day and of the south in the gates of temples*; and, on this account, in other gates also, it was not lawful to speak at all times, because gates were considered as sacred. Hence, too, the Pythagoreans, and the wise men among the Egyptians, forbade speaking while passing through doors or gates; for then they venerated in silence that God who is the principle of wholes [and, therefore of all things].
13. Homer likewise knew that gates are sacred, as is word Erectheus, asthe unfolding: of the name signifies. For it is the. prolific power of the Earth, flourishing and restored, according,to the seasons. But Boreas is the providence of the Gods, supernally illumi- nating secondary natures. For the providence of the Gods in the world 15. signified by Boreas, because this divinity blows from lofty places. And the elevating power of the Gods is signified by the south wind, be- cause this wind blows from low to lofty places; and besides this, things situated towards the south are more divine. The providence of the Gods, therefore, causes the prolific power of the Earth, or of the Attic land, to ascend, and become visible.
“ Orithya also may be said to be a soul aspiring after things above, from ogeve and 4, according to the Attic custom of adding a letter at the end of a word, which letter is here an “#.” Such a soul, there- fore, is ravished by Boreas supernally blowing. But if Orithya. was hurled from a precipice, this also is appropriate, for such a soul dies a philosophic, not receiving a physical death, and abandons a.life per- taining to her own deliberate choice, at the same time that she lives a physical life. And philosophy, according to Socrates in the Phedo, is nothing else than a meditation of death.”
5 In the original, trracay ovr καὶ συμθολον τὴς pesoneCgiag χαὶ TOU γοτοῦ, Bere τῇ Supn, μεσημξριαζοντος του ϑέου, which Holstenius translates most errone- ously as follows: “ Austrum igitur meridiei. symbolum statuunt; cum deus meridiano tempore ‘ostio immineat.”
΄σ ON ΤΗΕ CAVE OF THE NYMPHS. κᾳι98 evident from his representing Oeneus, when supplicating, shaking the gate: The gates he shakes, and supplicates the son °.
He also knew the gates of the heavens which are com- mitted to the guardianship of the Hours; which gates originate in cloudy places, and are opened and shut by the clouds. For he says, Whether dense clouds they close, or wide unfold 5.
And on this account, these gates emit a bellowing sound, because thunders roar through the clouds: Heaven’s gates spontaneous open to the powers; Heaven’s bellowing portals, guarded by the Hours 7.
He likewise elsewhere speaks of the gates of the Sun, signifying by these Cancer and Capricorn; for the Sun proceeds as far as to these signs, when he descends from the north to the south, and from thence ascends again to the northern parts. But Capricorn and Cancer are situ- ated about the galaxy, being allotted the extremities - of this circle; Cancer, indeed, the northern, but Capri- corn the southern extremity of it. According to Pytha- goras, also, the people of dreams*, are the souls which are said to be collected in the galaxy, this circle being so called from the milk with which souls are nourished when they fall into generation. Hence, those who evocate departed souls, sacrifice to them by a libation of milk mingled with honey; because, through the allurements of sweetness, they will proceed into generation; with the birth of man, milk being naturally produced. Farther still, the southern regions produce small bodies; for it is usual with heat to attenuate them in the greatest degree. But all bodies generated in the north are large, as is 4 " Thiad, lib. xi. v. 579. = Tliad, lib. vill. v. $95.
Y Tliad, lib. viii. v. 393.
* The souls of the suitors.are said by Homer, j in the 24th book of the Odyssey (v. 11), to have passed, in their descent to the region of spirits, beyond the people of dreams.
oO ~~ 194 ON THE CAVE OF THE NYMPHS.
evident in the Celts, the Thracians, and the Scythitins; and these regions are humid, and abound with pastures.
For the word Boreas is derived from Boga, which signifies nutriment. Hence, also, the wind which blows from a land abounding in nutriment, is called Βορρας, as being of a nutritive nature. From these causes, therefore, the northern parts are adapted to the mortal tribe, and to souls that fall into the realms of generation. But the southern parts are adapted to that which is immortal®*, just as the eastern parts of the world are attributed to the. Gods, but the western to demons. For, in consequence of nature originating from diversity, the ancients every where made that which has a twofold entrance to be a symbol of the nature of things. For the progression is either through that which is intelligible, or through that which is sensible. And if through that which is sensible, 10 is either through the sphere of the fixed stars, or through the sphere of the planets. And again, it is éither